Grain harvester



March 16, 1965 w. A. BYRD GRAIN HARVESTER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April22, 1963 WYL ,4. BYRD INVENTOR.

March 16, 1965 w. A. BYRD GRAIN HARVESTER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April22, 1963 INVENTOR D Q Y 5 A m L Y w United States Patent 3,173,236 GRAINHART/ESTER Wylie A. Byrd, Rte. 2, Talia, Tex. Filed Apr. 22, 1963, Ser.No.274,53l. 1 Claim. (Cl. 56-119) This invention relates to agriculturalharvesting in plements and more particularly to an agricultural machinefor harvesting grain and similar crops.

The invention as shown in this application is an improvement of myearlier application, which was filed on eptember 16, 1960,.Serial No.56,539, new iatent No. 3,107,474; itself a continuation-in-part of myapplication filed April 1, 1958, Serial No. 726,580, which is nowabandoned. The previous patent application, as this one, dealt with theproblem of harvesting grain which is on stalks which have been blowndown by the wind or other adverse weather conditions. Both devices arealso adaptable for harvesting low vine crops like beans and peas.

This invention like the invention of the previous. patent applicationdeals with a machine which will exert a gentle lifting action upon thecrop by replacing the reel with a pair of rotating cones, one cone oneither side of the row. Spiral ribs extend from the surface of the cone.

Experience has shown need for improving the machine. Desirableimprovements include a simplified drive mechanism for driving the conesand-rollers which are associated therewith; for a flexible tip to beapplied to the apex of the cone; and for improved roller fins to betterthrust the severed stalks back on the conveying mechanism after it hasbeen cut by the sickle mechanism.

An object of this invention is to harvest crops which are not verticallyorientated.

Another object of this invention is gently to lift growing crops.

Another objeet-of this invention is .to provide a machine which willlift crops to out the stalks wherein the crops are lying close to theground.

A further object is to provide an improved drive mechanism for the partsof such a machine.

A further object is to provide a better means for insuring the harvestedcrops are caught by the conveying mechanism of the machine.

A still further object is to provide an improved means for making surethat the crop is lifted even if it is lying on the ground.

Still further objects are to achieve the above with a device that issturdy, compact, durable, simple, versatile, and reliable, yetinexpensive and easy to manufacture.

The specific nature of the invention as well as other objects, uses, andadvantages thereof will clearly appear from the following descriptionand from the accompanying drawing, the different views of which are notnecessarily to the same scale, in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of one embodiment of this invention, showing theattachment disconnected from the machine.

FIG. 2 is a side-elevational view of one roller-cone assemblyparticularly illustrating the drive mechanism.

FIG. 3 is an axial sectional view of one roller-cone assembly showingthe cutting and conveying mechanism of the harvesting equipment, takenon lnie 3-3 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the roller particularly illustratingthe fins thereon, taken on line 4-4 of FIG. 3.

As may be seen in the accompanying drawings one embodiment of thisinvention is built upon frame which is made to fit upon a combine.

A combine will include cutting means in the form of a sickle bar 12 forcutting stalks and means 14 for conveying the cut stalks to other partsof the combine. Shaft 1s is mounted for rotation upon the frame 10. Thisshaft elements 32 of the associated cone.

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16 is rotated from conventional elements on the combine which are notillustrated in the drawings but which are well known in the art andwhich will be well understood by those skilled in the art. The shaft 16is mounted to the frame it by suitable bearings.

Pendants 1% depend from longitudinally extending bars 29 and 22 of theframe it The bars 2t? and 22 extend parallel to the shaftle at a lowerelevation than the shaft and on either side thereof. The attachment ofthe pendant it; to the bars includes cross-member 24 which is attachedby bolts extendingthroug h the cross-member 24 and through therespective bars 26 and '22. The crossmembers 24 are attached to the bars26 and 22 by bolts which extend through elongated slots23 in thecrossmember 24 and elongated slots in the bars 2% and 22 so thatadjustment is possible. Tube 26 is attached to the bottom of the pendant18 by welding or other convenient conventional means. Cone shaft 28 isjournalled for rotation within the tube 26 by suitable bearings. Cone343 is attached to cone shaft 28 by a threaded connection. The cone 3t":extendsforward of the sickle bar 32 and angles downward. The cone 34 iscoaxial with the tube 26. Spiral element 32 is attached to the outsideof the cone 3%. The spiral element 32 onadjacent cones angle around thecone in opposite directions. Each cone has a flexible finger 34 at theapex thereof coaxial with the cone 39. This fiexiblefinger is in theform of a rubber tube which is telescoped over short rod 35 whichextends from the cone as may be seen in FIG. 3.

Tube 33 is journalled for rotation about the outside of tube 26 bybearings. Roller 40 is attached to the tube 38 by welding or otherconvenient, conventional means. The outside of the roller 40 isfrusto-conical in shape and the base of the roller 4% is at the base ofthe cone 39. The base of the cone 3h overlays the base of the roller 40,i.e. the roller 4% is telescoped within the cone 3%. The base of theroller 46 is slightly within the base of the cone 3% so thatthe cut cropdoes not tend to collect at this'point. Two angle fins or spiralelements iliare attached to the exterior of the roller 40. The fins 42"angle around the roller 4% in opposite directions than the spiral tatedotherwise the spiral elements 42 have opposite pitch than spiralelements 32 or" the corresponding cone. The purpose of the fins 42 is tomove the cut stalks rearwardly and downwardly upon means for conveying14 after they have been severed by the sickle bar 12.

Additional straight fins 44 are provided at the rear portion of eachroller 40. These fins 44 extend approximately one-half of the length ofthe roller 40 and therefore extend along the roller one-half of thelength that fins 42 do inasmuch as fins 42 extend the entire length ofthe roller 40. Furthermore the fins 44 extend from the rollerapproximately one-half the distance the fins 42 do. Specifically I havehad good success having the fins 42 extend three inches from the surfaceof the roller 49 whereas fins 44 extend one and one-half inches from thesurface of the roller 40. The fins 44 he in a plane which contains theaxis of the roller 40. There are two of the straight fins 44 each lyinghalf-way between the spiral elements 42. The frustro-conical surface ofthe roller 40 is supported by a pair of bulkheads 46 which interconnectthe surface to the tube 38.

The roller 40 is coaxial with the tube 26 and therefore coaxial with theassociated cone 30. The fins 42 of each roller 46 angle around theroller 40 in a direction opposite from the fins 42 of the adjacentroller 40.

Each coaxial cone 30 and roller 40 together form a crop-positioningassembly which is in front of the sickle bar 12. When in use the apex ofthe cone 30 is near the ground and the flexible finger 34 may run on theground.

Inasmuch as it is flexible, contact with the ground will not tend to diginto the ground and therefore will not cause damage to the cone 30. Asmay be seen the roller 49 is positioned above the sickle bar 12.

The rear end of each shaft 28 has sheave 48 attached thereto. Sheave 5t?is attached to the rear of each tube 38. The sheaves 48 and 50 are ofthe same diameter.

For each crop-positioning assembly a sheave 52 is mounted upon shaft 16.An idler pulley 54 is mounted upon each pendant 18. The sheave 52 isaligned with one edge of the sheaves 48 and 50, while the idler pulley54 is aligned with the other edge. The axis of rotation of the idlerpulley 54 is parallel to the shaft 1d. A V-belt 56 is trained over eachsheave 52, around sheave 48, over idler pulley 54, around sheave 50, andback to sheave 52. In this manner it may be seen that a simple drivemeans has been provided whereas the roller 40 and cone 30 are driven inopposite directions at the same angular velocity. Each cone 3!) isdriven in an opposite direction than the adjacent cone by the simpleexpedient of placing the sheave 52 on the other side of the assembly.For example, looking at FIG. 1 on the two right assemblies, it will benoted that the sheave 52 on the right assembly is mounted to the left ofthe pendant 18, whereas on the adjacent assembly the sheave 52 ismounted to the right of the pendant 18.

The idler pulley 54 is mounted upon stub shaft 58 which is attached tosleeve 60 which surrounds the pendant 18. The position of the sleeve 60on the pendant 18 is adjusted by set screws 62. By raising or loweringthe sleeve 60, the tension of the belt 56 is adjusted.

It will be apparent that the embodiment shown is only exemplary and thatvarious modifications can be made in construction, materials, andarrangement within the scope of the invention as defined in the appendedclaim.

I claim as my invention: In a harvester machine having a crop-liftingand positioning assembly to facilitate cutting including,

(a) a harvester with a horizontally extending cutting means,

(12) a support frame mounted on said harvester,

(c) said frame supporting a plurality of paired croppositioningassemblies in front of said cutting means,

(11) each assembly comprising a coaxially mounted conical member and aroller member,

(e) the conical member having its apex position adjacent the ground,

(f) the roller member being positioned rearwardly of the base of theconical member,

(g) said roller member being positioned above the cutting means,

(It) driving means on said frame for driving said croppositioningassemblies,

(1') one conical member of each paired assembly being driven in onedirection and the corresponding roller member being driven in theopposite direction,

(j) the cooperative crop-positioning assemblies of each pair havingopposite directions of rotation, and (k) said conical members having aspiral element thereon; the improvement comprising:

(I) said driving means including a shaft mounted for rotation upon saidframe,

(in) a sheave mounted on said shaft for each of said crop-positioningassemblies,

(12) a sheave attached to each conical member,

(0) a sheave attached to each roller member,

(p) an idler pulley for each assembly adjustably mounted on said frame,

(q) the axis of rotation of the idler pulley being parallel to the shaftwhich is normal to the axis of said assembly,

(1') a belt trained from each of the sheaves on the shaft around thesheave attached to the conical member, around the idler pulley, aroundthe sheave attached to the roller member and back to the sheave mountedon the shaft; and

(s) wherein each of said roller members has a spiral element which is ofopposite pitch from its corresponding conical member,

(I) each roller member in addition has a straight fin which lies in aplane which contains the axis of the roller member, and

(u) wherein each conical member has a flexible finger extending from theapex coaxial therewith and attached thereto.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,927,414- 3/60Jones 56104 3,107,474 10/63 Byrd 561l9 T. GRAHAM CRAVER, PrimaryExaminer.

ANTONIO F. GUIDA, ARNOLD RUEGG, Examiners.

